The Hôtel Carlton de Lille is described as a "kitschy, faded and
now infamous hotel, replete with fake flowers, colonnades and
gold-plated statues, on a street lined with children’s stores, a
church and a marriage counselor".

That the hotel is now at the center of a huge scandal after the
arrest of its owner, director and head of public relations for a
DSK-linked prostitution ring comes much to the confusion of the
locals in the relatively sleepy city who see it as just another
unglamorous place for businessmen to stay.

There are hints that the hotel could have a dark underbelly
however — it's brochure brags of its “charm and discretion” and
its “soundproof apartments.”